Pine Gap: Full Knowledge & Concurrence

Heavily redacted documents produced in accordance with Freedom of Information laws appear to imply that the Australian government has full knowledge of current and future operations taking place at Pine Gap and that it is given the opportunity to approve or deny proposed future conduct carried out at the base. This may have serious ramifications for Australia, a signatory to the Rome Statute, in any future proceedings in the International Criminal Court.

I recently issued a Freedom of Information request for copies of advices, cables, directives, emails and policies confirming the domestic or international laws which apply to defence personnel working on US drone missions from the Australian-American defence facility at Pine Gap from 1 January 2014 to date, which turned up some interesting material.